Meeker

Developed at Washington State University. Large, thimble shaped, dark red fruit with high sugar content and good quality flavor. Good home garden variety for eating fresh, freezing, canning, and processing. Meeker is not particularly adapted to heavy soils but is a vigorous plant with long willowy growth. Very productive with long harvest season. Ripens midseason. Meeker has some resistance to Botrytis Rot. Zone 5-8.

Newburgh

Developed by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station and introduced in 1926. Very large, firm, very sweet, light red berries with shallow caps. Mild flavor with fairly good quality. Retains its shape well and dose not crumble when being picked. A very good variety for jelly and freezing. Vigorous, heavy annual producer that is resistant to Root Rot and Mosaic Virus. Newburgh is widely adaptable and takes heavy wet soil fairly well. Also a low growing variety that doesn't need support as taller varieties. Zone 2-7.

Willamette

Originated in Oregon and is extensively grown in the Pacific Northwest. An extremely large berry, nearly round, dark red, very firm, and of excellent quality. Lower sugar content, rich, and slightly tart good flavor. Excellent quality for fresh eating, freezing, and canning. Holds color and shape well. The bush is vigorous, very productive, and suckers freely. Requires well drained soils and mild winters. Disease resistant. Ripens early. Willamette is one of the most popular commercial varieties in Oregon, Washington, and California. Zone 5-10.

Canby

Developed in Oregon and introduced in 1953. Thornless Red Raspberry. Large, good flavored, firm, juicy, bright red berry with fine quality. This delicious flavored berry is one of the best in the Northwest for freezing, canning, cooking, and fresh eating. The canes are vigorous and productive. Heavy bearer. Canby does show a high level of virus resistance and aphid immunity. Sensitive to Root Rot so good soil drainage is required. Not adapted to heavy soils. Grows best in areas with cooler summers. Excellent winter hardiness in zones 4-8.

Chilcotin

Berry a bit larger than Willamette which used to be considered the largest berry of all. Firm berry has an attractive color and exceptional flavor. Another must for fresh market fruit stand sales. Long fruiting season, ripens from late July to early August. Hardier than Willamette or Meeker, about the same hardiness as Canby.

Latham:

The standard for springbearing, red raspberries; extremely popular and widely grown. Large to very large, round, often 1", deep red fruits. Wonderful texture; somewhat noncohesive. Full flavored and aromatic. Good for fresh eating, canning, freezing, jam, juice and pie. Strong, vigorous, heavily productive, upright, 4-5’ plants; widely adapted. Disease resistant; mosaic free. Ripens evenly for three weeks in late June and early July. Exceptionally hardy; zone 2-7.

Boyne

Developed in Morden, Monitoba for Northwest areas where extreme hardiness is needed most. Introduced in 1960. Medium, tender, juicy, dark red berries. The flavor is aromatic and medium sweet. Espcially good for jams, jellies, and freezing. Very productive, strong, heavy, sturdy canes. Height will get 5 to 5 1/2 feet. Adapted for fruit stand sales, pick your own, and the home garden. Ripens in early midseason. Zone 2-7.

Tulameen

Nootka parentage. Very large, red fruit makes it one of the largest of all the reds. Well suited to both processing and fresh market. High yields. Long harvest season (approximately 50 days). Ripens in July. Introduced in 1990. Zone 4-7.

Red Raspberries -- Everbearing Varieties

Heritage

Introduced from New York State at Geneva in 1969. Large, sweet, dark red berries with a mild flavor. This superior quality berry is good for fresh eating, freezing, canning, and preserves. The canes are tall for an everbearing raspberry, but are very sturdy and seldom require support. Strong, vigorous, very productive, suckers prolifically and spreads rapidly. Fairly tolerant of heavier soils but will develop Root Rot in poorly drained areas. Moderate summer crop with heavier, superior fall crop. An excellent variety for the home gardener and also grown commercially in many areas. Zone 4-9.

Amity

Developed at the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station in Corvallis. Large, firm, dark red berries with classic raspberry flavor and superior quality. Excellent for fesh market. Amity is good for shipping, freezing, and canning. Compared to Heritage; Amity is more resistant to Root Rot and can take somewhat heavier soils. Amity is also aphid resistant. Amity involves two crops. One on the first year growth in the Fall (beginning in late August), and again the following June on the 2 year old wood. The Fall crop will tend to be heavier if the canes are mowed, as the plant does not use any energy to ripen the Spring crop. Amity is a week or so earlier than Heritage but does not bear quite as heavily. Amity does not pick as well as Heritage because the berry sticks to the plug until quite ripe. We recommend Amity for the home gardener due to its excellent flavor. We recommed the Heritage to commercial growers due to the heavier yields, better storage, and picks easier in the field. Zone 3-9.

Summit

Large, firm, red berries. High yields. Summit has been known to produce a crop the first season. Fruits about two weeks earlier than Heritage. Summit is also suitable for machine picking. If mowed off a feww inches above the soil level each winter it will only produce a large Fall crop the next season. Zone 3-9.

Autumn Bliss

An early Autumn fruiting raspberry from the East Malling Research Station. Large, oval-conical, medium to dark red berry. Fairly easy to plug. This berry has a pleasant mild flavor. Autumn Bliss ripens earlier than Heritage, overlapping in mid-August with the latest summer cropping varieties and continuing into October. Spiny canes are fairly erect and may be grown with little or no support. Moderate cane density. High yields. Autumn Bliss bridges the gap between late Summer and Fall varieties. This gives home gardeners, fruit stand operations, and fresh market producers the opportunity of continuous cropping throughout late Summer and early Fall. Zone 3-9.

Dinkum:

Everbearing. This patented variety is from a cross made in Australia from English parent plants. The variety seems to be well adapted to the Pacific Northwest with good flavored, relatively firm fruit borne on first year canes that ripens with ‘Autumn Bliss’. For highest yields canes need to be mowed to the ground in late winter for fall fruit only the next year. For management to have continuous summer through fall berries, the canes are pruned in late winter to just below old fruit laterals and allowed to remain with Primocanes. Buds which form at the base of the canes will start blooming in April or May for June and July berries. Zone 3-9.

Caroline:

U.S. Plant Patent #10412. Uniquely flavored, large, firm, and cohesive fruit. Long conical shape berry that fruits earlier than Heritage. Observations from the developing plant breeders show that Caroline responds to warmer temperatures with earlier fruiting. Caroline suckers easily. It is more tolerant to root rot and yellow rust than Heritage. Plants are very productive and produce fruit over a long period. Zone 3-9.